Slipping outside through the sliding
glass door, he padded across the deck and sat down on the top stair. His hands
were wrapped around a hot mug of coffee that he sipped slowly. A cool morning
sea breeze ruffled his hair, sending chills up his neck. Sighing, he wished
everything would go back to normal.
After the
incident in the hospital the week before, there had been a lingering tension
throughout the house. Riley and him were talking, like normal, but deep down,
they both knew something had changed. But the thing that bothered him the most…
was that the kiss… it didn’t bother him. In fact… he almost wanted her to do it
again. But would it ruin their friendship? He had already lost one friend
within the last year. He wasn’t sure he could handle another. What if things
didn’t work out?
Or what if they did? Nick set
the cup down on the stairs and rubbed his face with his hands. She was all he
could think about over the past week. No, not week. Month. Months. It had just
gotten worse after last week. But they wouldn’t talk about “it”. They couldn’t.
It was just too… weird.
Standing up, he shuffled back inside
and placed the mug into the sink. Glancing up at the clock on the microwave, he
saw he had thirty minutes until his doctor’s appointment. They wanted to see
him weekly again, so they could keep a closer eye on his blood count.
As he turned to walk towards his
bedroom, the phone rang. Picking it up off the cradle, he pressed it to his
ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey you. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
Riley’s voice flowed through the phone line.
“No, I’ve been awake for awhile. I’ve
got an appointment soon.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Could
you do me a huge favor while you’re out? If you’re feeling up to it…”
“Riley, I feel fine.” He replied,
rolling his eyes at her constant worry, but he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” She
retorted. “Anyways, in my room, atop my dresser, there should be a black
binder. Could you bring it to me when you’re done with your appointment?”
“Sure. Hey, don’t eat anything for
lunch, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks so much, Nick.”
Nick turned
the phone off and returned it to the cradle. Going down the hallway, he stopped
in front of her room and opened the door. The “smell” of her entered his nose,
causing butterflies to rise into his stomach.
“Stop it,” He
muttered, stepping into the room. He spied the black binder sitting on top of
the dresser, as promised. Before he could linger inside the room any longer, he
grabbed the binder and exited the room, closing the door. He let out a huge
sigh before heading down the hall to his room. Kicking the doorframe to release
anger, he immediately regretted it as his toe throbbed with pain.
“Damn it all to hell.” He tossed the
binder on his unmade bed and he grabbed his red and black Puma shoes from the
closet. Sitting down on the edge of the, he slid them on before tying them.
Standing back up, he tucked the binder under his arm and went into the kitchen
to retrieve the keys to his vehicle. Opening the garage door, he wasn’t
surprised to see the black mustang gone. Walking across the garage, he climbed
into his black Escalade before opening the garage door.
The drive to the doctor’s office
passed quickly. He soon found himself pulling into the parking lot of the
office. Stepping out of the vehicle, he looked up at the building. It looked so
innocent… but he hated it with a passion.
Once inside the building, he went
through another door and into the doctor’s office.
“Good morning, Nick.” The receptionist
greeted. “Go on back to room two. Dawn will be in shortly.”
“Thanks.” He walked down the
all-to-familiar hallway towards the second room. Going in, he sat down on the
table, ruffling the tissue paper as he did. He bore a stare into a framed
picture of a seashell. Minutes seemed like hours as time passed slowly.
Finally, a petite woman walked in, carrying a basket of different items.
“Hey Nick. How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good.”
“Great. We won’t call you about these
results unless there’s something we need to talk to you about. You can check on
them when you’re back next week.”
“Okay.” He watched as she tied a
tourniquet around his upper arm. She thumped the crook of his elbow several
times before rubbing it down with an alcohol pad.
“Slight prick.” She warned before
slipping the needle beneath his skin. He bit his lip as the pain struck. His
diseased blood quickly filled the tube as she pulled the tourniquet off. “All
done.”
She withdrew the needle and replaced
it with a cotton ball. Capping the needle, she put it in a sharps bin before
placing a band-aid over the new wound on Nick’s arm.
“Have a good day. See you next week.”
She said, collecting her items and leaving.
“You too,” Nick replied, adjusting the
sleeve of his shirt. He stepped off the table and left the building the same
way he had come in. Checking his watch, he was relieved to see that it was
eleven and Riley’s favorite take-out restaurant would be open. On the way to
her building, he stopped off at Crispy Jack’s Take-Out.
Why the hell am I doing this?
Friends do this, right? They take lunch to their friends. They eat lunch
together. Just like on Sex and The City, right? Well… besides the fact I’m a guy who has a huge crush on my friend.
Damn it. Crush. Sounds like high school… and well, that didn’t go so well.
Ten minutes
later, he was pulling into the parking lot of Riley’s building. From the
outside, it looked the same. She didn’t even have a sign put up yet. A single
car – a black mustang, sat in the lot. Getting out of his truck, he walked up
the path to the front entrance. He tried to pull the door open, but it was
locked. Peering through the window, he saw nothing but boxes, paint cans, and
papers strewn across the floor. He knocked on the glass, and then stepped back,
looking towards the upstairs. Riley suddenly bounded down the stairs, running
to the door and unlocking it with her key.
“Sorry about
that.” She said, nearly out of breath, holding the door open for him.
“Not a
problem. What are you doing up there?”
“I was going
through some resumes. That’s why I needed the notebook. It’s got more in it.
Thanks for bringing it.”
“Going to get
people in here to work soon?” He asked, handing her the binder.
“Yep. I’ve
just been unpacking a few things here and there. The furniture comes tomorrow
and I know I have one person to work for me. She’s coming over from Paris.”
“Awesome.”
“Yeah.”
The tension
in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.
“I brought
Crispy Jack’s for lunch…” He said, holding up the bag of food. Her eyes lit up
at the sight of the bag.
“I haven’t
had it in forever! Let’s go upstairs. The view’s better and it doesn’t smell
like paint.”
He followed
her up the stairs, trying to keep his eyes away from what was right in front of
him. He found himself blushing as he looked up. Once upstairs, she led him to
the corner where she had been sitting most of the morning.
“Do you want
a chair?” She asked, nodding towards the computer chair across the room.
“Nah, I’m
okay.” He sat down on the floor beside her and opened the bag, taking out
several small boxes of food.
“Oh man…
Nick… thank you so much.” She said, putting a forkful of pasta into her mouth.
The rest of
their lunch was relatively quiet, making it awkward for both.
“So…”
“So…”
They both
laughed, rolling their eyes at their poor attempt to talk.
Riley
gathered their leftover boxes and put them back into the bag.
“Damn it,
Riley, we can’t continue to be like this.” Nick said suddenly, unable to hold
back everything.
“Like what?”
She asked, knowing full well what he meant.
“Riley…”
“I know,
Nick. I know. I just… don’t know…”
“What to do
or how to feel?” Nick finished her sentence.
“Exactly.”
She sighed, leaning against the window. “We’ve been friends for so long. I’ve
seen other people fall for their friends… and then something ends up happening
and they hate each other. And I don’t know… no, I know for a fact that I
couldn’t live without our friendship.”
“But..”
“I know. What
if it worked? What if we didn’t try it and we miss out?”
Unable to
resist, Nick leaned over, surprising Riley when his lips touched hers. Her eyes
widened and she hesitated. Nick stopped, moving back, but Riley put her hand
behind his head and pulled him forward, deepening the kiss.
“Why does it
feel so right?” Nick mumbled, pulling back again.
“Make me a
deal?” She asked, butterflies flying around rapidly in her stomach.
“What’s
that?”
“No matter
what happens now. Or tomorrow. Or next week or whatever, that we’ll stay friends.
Don’t let anything happen to the friendship.”
“Deal.”
“Good.” She
leaned forward, pulling him towards herself again. He grinned, accepting the
invitation.
“Riley?”
“Hm?”
“Will you go
out with me tonight?” He pulled back yet again. “Not like… regular dinner. But
a real date?”
“Yeah,” She
replied, standing up.
“Really?”
“Yes,
really.” She laughed. “Now get out of here. I have work to do and don’t need
you to help me procrastinate.”
He hesitated
leaving, but looked back at her once more before going down the stairs. Once
back in the truck, he dialed a familiar number before starting the engine.
“’lo?” A
tired voice asked.
“Did I wake
you, J?”
“Sure as hell
did. What are you doing awake so early, Nicky? It’s only noon there, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I had
an appointment.”
“How’d it
go?” AJ asked, concern rising in his voice.
“Fine. Just
drawing blood. Anyways… on a different topic… I need your help with something.”
“Asking me
for help? Tattoo or girl?”
“Girl. I want
to take her out on a date tonight. I don’t know where to take her.” He heard a
can of soda being cracked open in the background.
“A girl?
Nicky is back in the dating scene! Yes! Now tell me, Nicky, who is this girl
and what is she like? Uncle AJ needs details to help.”
“Riley.”
Nick heard an
awful noise. “Shit. You just made me spit out my soda. I could’ve sworn you
said Riley.”
“I did.”
“Did I miss
something?”
“Long story.”
“I have time.
It’s fucking ten A.M. here.”
Nick told him
about the incident in the hospital in California and then everything until what
had happened at lunch.
“Why I never
saw this coming, I’ll never know. Hell has frozen over. Pigs are flying. Worms
have ea-“
“Stop it, J.
Just help me.” Nick muttered, stopping at a stoplight. He rubbed his hand over
his face, wondering if he had made a mistake calling AJ.
“Take notes,
my boy, we’re going to make this one hell of a night.”